Overview - Research

The University of Nebraska Rural Initiative appreciates the wealth of resources available throughout the University system and its capacity and potential to serve Nebraska. We support faculty and student research relevant to the growth, development and sustainability of rural Nebraska. This section of our website details research supported by the Rural Initiative.

Click on the titles below to download the full research reports. These titles are grouped into categories: Demographics, Economics, Education, Tourism and Water.

• 2007 Ag Census - "Introduction to the 2007 Census of Agriculture"
  
  
• 2007 Ag Census - "Nebraska Farm Numbers and Farm Size"
  
  
• Demographics - "2009 Nebraska Rural Poll Reports"
  
  
• Demographics - "Can the Path be Altered? Salvaging and Renewing Communities of the Rural Plains"
  
  The Nebraska Rural Initiative was co-sponsor of the second annual lecture on "Grassland Conservation and Sustainable Communities" hosted by the Grassland Foundation on April 12, 2007. Dr. Larry Swanson, Director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, delivered the lecture encouraging quick action to save rural communities from accelerating population decline. For detailed information on his presentation see the Grassland Foundation website.
  
  
• Demographics - County Profiles Summary
  In this brief document, Randy Cantrell summarizes the demographic and economic trends that will affect rural Nebraska for the next decade or longer.
  
  
  
  
• Demographics - Demographic and Lifestyle Characteristics of Farm Operators
  
  
• Demographics - In-Migration Accelerates Metropolitan Population Concentration According to 2008 Census Estimates for Nebraska
  
  
• Demographics - "Labor Force Implications of Population Decline in Non-Metropolitan Nebraska"
  
  
• Demographics - "Nebraska Rural Poll"
  The Poll is an annual survey of 6,000 non-metropolitan Nebraska households that focuses on such issues as community, government policy, well-being and work.
  
  
• Demographics - "Nebraska's Micropolitan Statistical Areas: A Growing Piece of a Shrinking Pie"
  
  
• Demographics - Nebraska's Population Growth Continues to be Concentrated in Metropolitan Counties
  
  
• Demographics - "Poverty in Nebraska: 2000 - 2007"
  
  
• Demographics - "Relocation to the Buffalo Commons"
  Randy Cantrell, Rural Sociologist for the University of Nebraska Rural Initiative, joined with a team of UNL researchers to study in-migration to the Nebraska panhandle. Click here for publications resulting from this work supported by a grant from the USDA CSREES National Research Initiative Grant Program.
  
  
• Demographics - "Rural Depopulation: A Closer Look at Nebraska's Counties and Communities"
  
  
• Demographics - Three Counties Saw the Majority of Nebraska's Housing Growth
  
  
• Demographics - A Typology of Nebraska Counties
  
  
• Economics - "Agricultural Earnings Highly Variable Over Time and by Sub-State Region"
  
  
• Economics - "Big Box Stores: Their Impacts on the Economy and Tips for Competing"
  
  
• Economics - "The Effect of Wal-Mart on the Economic Growth of Nebraska Counties"
  
  
• Economics - "Farm Real Estate Ownership Transfer Patterns in Nebraska's Panhandle Region"
  
  
• Economics - "Legislative Resolution 105 - Task Force on Rural Economic Development Interim Study Report"
  
  
• Economics - "Pillars of Growth in Nebraska's Non-Metropolitan Economy"
  
  
• Economics - "Non-Farm Proprietors and the Nebraska Economy: 1997-2006"
  
  
• Economics - Wage and Salary Jobs Lead Nebraska's Job Growth in 2007
  
  
• Economics - "Wal-Mart and Economic Growth of Nebraska Counties" (PowerPoint)
  
  
• Education - "Understanding the Meaning of Rural within a Middle School Mathematics Professional Development and Research Project in Nebraska"
  
  

• Tourism - "Great Plains Nature Tourism: Trends and Opportunities Case Study"
  
  
• Tourism - "Investigating Opportunities for Rural Development through Bird-Friendly Farms and Agricultural/Nature Tourism"
  This project, by faculty of the UNL School of Natural Resources, contributes to our understanding of bird habitat management practices in cropland farming systems and to our knowledge of Nebraska farmers' opinions regarding birds, their habitats, children's roles on the farm, and a certification process that would tie all of these together.
  
  
• Tourism - "Jefferson County Visitor Survey"
  
  
• Tourism - "Nebraska City Visitor Survey"
  
  
• Tourism - "Western Nebraska Visitors Survey"
  
  
• Tourism - Wildlife & Sustainable Rural Development in Namibia: Are There Applications to the Northern Great Plains?
  Chris Weaver, the Managing Director of the World Wildlife Fund-Namibia program, delivered this Third Annual Grassland Foundation lecture dealing with the development of various conservation models in Namibia that have led to a large increase in wildlife numbers and an improvement in rural livelihoods from hunting, nature-based tourism and other activities. To download his lecture, visit the Grassland Foundation website.
  
  
• Water - An Evaluation of Evapotranspiration Model Complexity Against Performance in Comparison with Bowen Ratio Energy Balance Measurements
  
  
• Water - "Is Water Property?"
  
  
• Water - "Nebraska Agricultural Water Management Demonstration Network"
  The University of Nebraska Rural Initiative has supported Suat Irmak of UNL's Biological Systems Engineering Department to assist in research and education that helps farmers conserve water and energy. Click on link above to access the Nebraska Agricultural Water Management Demonstration Network website.
  
  
• Water - Reference and Crop Evapotranspiration in South Central Nebraska. I: Comparison and Analysis of Grass and Alfalfa-Reference Evapotranspiration
  
  
• Water - Reference and Crop Evapotranspiration in South Central Nebraska. II: Measurement and Estimation of Actual Evapotranspiration for Corn
  
  
• Water - "University of Nebraska Water-Related Research In Brief: Information for Nebraska's Water Resources Decision-Makers"